LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Authorities confiscated P6.8 million worth of shabu from a member of the Maute terror group who fell in a sting in Wao town in this province Thursday.

The suspect, Amrodin Alan Bantog, is now in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to be prosecuted for violation of the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Act.

Army intelligence sources and local officials in Lanao del Sur province told reporters Bantog remitted fractions of his earnings to the Maute terror group, now under a new leader, Owaida Marohombsar, also known as Abu Dar.

Juvenal Azurin, director of PDEA-ARMM, said Friday Bantog fell in an entrapment in Barangay Easter in Wao, a hinterland town in Lanao del Sur.

Azurin said the operation that led to Bantog’s arrest was assisted by the Lanao del Sur provincial police, the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion and members of the Wao municipal peace and order council.

Local officials confirmed Friday that Bantog is one of the top ten large scale peddlers of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in Wao.

The sources said he peddled shabu for the Maute, which operates in the fashion of the Islamic State.

The group has been providing sanctuary to drug dealers in areas where it operates in exchange for money.

When US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited last week, he made assurances his country would come to the Philippines’ defense in the event of an armed attack on our vessels and aircraft in the South China Sea.

President Duterte and visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad emphasized yesterday the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea in maintaining peace and progress in the region, which is grappling with territorial disputes as well as China’s muscle-flexing.